[OOC] Formaroth: Battle for the Throne

[Klomster]

@TheDuncanMorgan It seems to have ground to a halt.

[PhoenixWhite]

@TheDuncanMorgan

This week should see some sort of post from me, aye.

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Klomster I have given Andrew a prod and he says he will have something for you today.

[ZB1996]

I have to admit that though I do have things planned, they need further developments before they take place.

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@ZB1996 Are there any collabs required in those developments?

[ZB1996]

@TheDuncanMorgan

It may, though for the moment I can only wait for further developments. On the other hand, something new just came to mind. A while back someone said they wanted to join a create what was tantamount to a heretical uprising, though they've since gone away. That seems to be the way for me to go for the path I have for Lycaon. I should have a relatively short for that soon. Otherwise, I can only wait for further developments from Lanaya and for some battles, as I have things planned regarding Lycaon's Holy Order and the war.

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Klomster @PhoenixWhite How is the collab/post coming along?

[Klomster]

@TheDuncanMorgan It's going now.

We're discussing how the meeting itself will be conducted, it's gonna be a bit off back and forth. Luckily it's not a massive amount of things that is to be discussed, just one issue.

So ETA..... some time, perhaps more, perhaps less.
No idea to be honest.

[Ellri]

Hmm...

We discovered one thing in a discussion with Echo...

You really don't want to let us have control of a charismatic mage with a head for tactics and interest in war...
He or she would end up providing a small force of soldiers with the means to eradicate entire armies, all without needing any mages of great power. All he or she would need is to collect numerous relatively weak mages who'd serve his/her cause.

Not gonna describe the exact means, but lets just say that defensive magics aimed at defending the mundane soldiers would be quite necessary against such a unit if their opponents seek to keep their soldiers alive.

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Ellri I think you are underestimating mudane soldiers a bit. For a start there will always be hundreds of mundane soldiers to ever one mage. Meaning that in the unlikely event that an army of mages and a army of mudanes were to battle, there would be thousands of mundanes for only a hundred or so mages.

Although the mages would successfully defeat hundreds in the mundane army (providing the mundane army has no mages what so ever) ultimately they would be overwhelmed by the mundane forces.

Mages are most effective when fighting alongside the main mundane forces and by doing this can help change the tide of a battle. This is why mages tend to be divided into small grouped throughout the army rather than being in one group; if the enemy were to target them with perhaps a volley of arrows or a cavalry then the army would be without mages and would put them at a distinct disadvantage (considering that not only would they have lost all their mages but they would now have no way to defend against the enemy mages).

[Ellri]

heh. There's magic that kills, and then there's magic that is designed to kill. Big difference.

what sort of anti-magic defenses are there in armies?

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Ellri Well the main way to defend against magic is with other mages. There are mundanes who specialize in countering mages, but they tend to be assassin's or bounty hunters, not usually people found among the professional army who tend to just rely on their own mages. Of course simply wearing Armour or having a shield can provide a decent defense in close combat.

[Ellri]

How do Army A's mages protect against Army B's mages?

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Ellri Depends on the spell. For example in the battle of Ralda most of the fireballs were extinguished before they even reached their target. Other methods could be using a magical barricade (taught under the destruction school as a form of defense) which could be used to block against most spells (but useless against actual physical weapons). Mages may erect a barrier of ice or stone if they wish to protect themselves from more powerful spells or mundane weaponry though this takes more skill then a simple magical barrier.

[Klomster]

In my post about the battle of Telmarion i improvised that battlemages made gusts of wind, shot fireballs at incoming projectiles or made some sort of force screens.
Since no one claimed that wasn't correct i assume that is the case with the battlemages.

Dunno if a group of battlemages boosting a group of infantry is the end all be all winner way.
For one, it's not the way the armies deploy them, which should be one hint since at least someone would have thought about trying it. If it was the best option, everyone would use it.
The other thing is that great, now you have powerful infantry. However the battlemages are now preoccupied with enhancing the troops and won't be very good at defending against projectiles from enemy bows artillery or battlemages.

Of course, it depends on the situation. If the enemy force lacks ranged elements, i'd say go nuts!

I once more realised that the Steel fist also doesn't have any battlemages of their own.
No matter, just push through with sheer force, that should show those pesky battlemages!
(I am just bantering, again in the post, i describe how the battlemages save Claus's vanguard from being completely decimated by enemy spellfire with effective counterspells.)

[Ellri]

As Urd will never have a particularly good head for military tactics, she won't discover the means we had in mind.

But just out of curiosity, @Klomster... If your opponent had cavalry, and you had mages capable of creating fire at a distance. Your opponent also has mages to protect its forces. How would you stop the cavalry charge?

[TheDuncanMorgan]

@Klomster Mages cannot enhance the physical performance of other soldiers. Otherwise it would lead to some very overpowered guards simply walking through any opposition.

[Klomster]

As Urd will never have a particularly good head for military tactics, she won't discover the means we had in mind.

But just out of curiosity, @Klomster... If your opponent had cavalry, and you had mages capable of creating fire at a distance. Your opponent also has mages to protect its forces. How would you stop the cavalry charge?

@Ellri

Hmmm, well, i'd go for scaring the horses with fire walls. Or conjuring flames in front of them.
Sure, the enemy mages are going to work against you, but i think it's one of the best bets.

Oh, and @TheDuncanMorgan. The reason i brought it up was that i thought Ellri was thinking about it.

[Ellri]

how would it be to defend against the cavalry charge if it were then equipped with curved shields?

Wouldn't it be fun to defend against such a charge the firewall you put up to stop it is instead rolled in front of the charge, as the curvature of the shields pushes it along?

we weren't thinking of enhancing no. The only way, using formaroth's magic that we can think of to make non-mage "supersoldiers" would require modifying them with something like restoration magic, which would end up making them into abominations. A process fraught with danger and decidedly unpopular with all other mages. Though it'd probably just result in a lot of modified corpses.

over time and across different settings, we've ended up collecting a decent amount of lore for war magic. What (usually) works, what (usually) doesn't, what is impressive, and so on. That's probably part of why we made Urd not be a war mage.

[PhoenixWhite]

@TheDuncanMorgan

I will be delayed until later this week, Saturday is the day it appears I'll have something up. I apologize for the prediction last week, but this Saturday I can guarantee something will be up. And it won't even be rushed, either, as a plus.